Vehicle-axle.



H.'B. BUSH.

VEHICLE AXLE.

APPLICATION F-ILED JUNE 25, 1906.

Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. B. BUSH.

VEHICLE AXLE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1906.

' 903 ,447. Patented Nov. 10, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

awwwtoz Toall whom it may concern:

- same, reference uxrrnn STATES .PxTnrrr oFFroE.

HAZEL B. BUSH, or LITTLETON, COLORADO.

VEHICLE-AXLE.

,';Be it known that I, HAZE B. BUSH, a citiresiding at Littleton, in the county'of Ara Colorado, have invente certain new anduseful Improvements in Vehicle-Axles;v and I do declarethefollowing to be a. full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable jothersvskilled in the art to which. it appertam'sto make and use the being'liad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked, thereon,

' supported upon thesup operative rel 3 5 of this specification. t

My invention relates to improvements in vehicle axles bein'gmore especially intended for use i'n connection with automobiles and similar vehicles where it is desirable tominimize' the vibration.v My object is toprovidea construction of this class which shall make it practicable to use a, solid'tire on vehicles of the class stated, without subjecting the-parts of. the mechanism to' undue concussion or vibration during use. j. p

To this end my improved construction n1- cludes what-I'pi'efer to call a sup lemental axle which is yieldingly connecte( with the main axle and is allowed vertical movement within reasonable limits, independently of the main axle. The body of the vehicle is I lemental axle, and atter is connected with'the main axle in ation.

My improved construction applies to both forward and rearward axles and while the construction is substantially, the same in both cases, slight modifications are necessarilydue to the fact that the main forward the and rear axles are of slightly difl'erent construction.

- Having briefly outlined the invention as well as the functionitI'is intended to per- "form, I will proceed to describe the same in Y embodiment thereof detail reference being made, to the accompanying'drawing in which is illustrated an In this drawing, Figure 1 is a view. partly in section of my improved axle construction, as applied to. the rear axle of an automobile. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the as applied to the forward axle.

In this view the wheels are omitted. Fig. 3. is a section taken on thelin'e 3-3 Fi 1, viewed in the direction of the arrow.

taken on the line 4 -4 2 ahoe and State ofautomobiles or self propelled vehicles. this view'the construction is shown partly in I the line 6- 6 Fig. 1 with the parts shown on which form apart member vehicle.

' rectly above construction member 5. The body ig. 4 is a section Patented Nov. 10, 1 90s looking toward the left or-in'the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 5 is a view illustrating a modified form; of axleconstruction for use wiih 11 section; Fig. 6 is a section takenon a larger scale. Fig. 7 is a section taken on thelme 7-7 Fig. 2 shown on a larger scale. Figs. 8 and 9 are sections taken on the lines 88 and 9 -9 respectively, of Fig. '5. l r The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

" Let the numeral 5 designate the main axle whether the forward or rearward constructionis considered. While the for- ,ward and rear axle constructions are quite different the one from the other, yet so far as my lmprovernent is concerned they are virtually of the same construction and therefore;

may be 'designated by the same reference?- character. Upon the extremities of the axle member 5 are journaled the ground wheels 6' carrying the sprocket wheel 7. In propelling the vehicle the sprocket wheels 7 are connected with sprockets 8 on the driving shaft 9 by suitable chains 10..

'ti-on for propelling ordinary construe the C06 aerating with the main member 5, of the axle is an auxiliary or supplemental member 12 whose body portion 13-is mounted di-' the body of the main axle member 55; The body of the supplemental axle is provided with a central depending guide 14 which consists of two members extending downwardly on'o'pposite', sides of the main axle member 5, the two members being connected at the bottom. By virtue of this construction the guide 14 taken in connection with the body of'the su plemental member, completely surrounds t 1e axle member 5. 'To the lower extremity of the depending guide is secured-the central portionof a half elliptical spring 15 whose extremities are connected to the axle member 5 as shown at 16. The'parts of the guide 14 on opposite sides of the axle member 5 are'slotted as shown at 17 ,to receive pins or lugs 18 connected with the of the supplemental axle art normally occupies a position sufticient y above the member-5, to permit considerable vertical movement without striking the latter. The axle member 12 is further This is an sup orted above the member iiby an ellilp- 'tica spring 19 located at each extremity of t e axle. The central upper portions of the ellipmembers 24 located on opposite sides of the -main member 5. The lower extremities of these side members are separated by a spacer 25 through which is passed a connecting-bolt 26. The body portion of the sup lemental axle is preferab y channeled as est illustratedin Figs' 6, 7 and 9." This channeled portion of the axle is provided interiorly'with a rubber or other yielding cushion or buiier H 27,,while'in the-bottom of each guide is 10- "which are remova ly connecte cated a similar cushion or bufier. 27 The functionof these bufiers is to relievethe con-- cus'sion or jar in case the two axle members should come incdntact at either the upper or lower' surface of the -main axle member. Each guide is provided on its inner surface with verticallydis osed Wearin plates 28 l with the .body of the guide and may be readily detached when it becones necessary to replace them by new plates.

p The construction for the forward and rear axles as heretofore'stated, issubstantially 2 while the extremities of the same. The central construction is composed .of two members 15 one located on each side of the axle members. The central portion of each of these spring members is 'olted to lateral flan es 12? formed integral with "the body of t e supplemental axle;

these spring members are connected with the axle member 5 as shown at 15 .1

In the formof construction shown in Figs. 5, 8 and 9, a modified form of rear axle is shown. is composed of an outer stationary hollow member 5 through which passes a revoluble member 5? to t e outer extremities 5 of which the ground wheels (not shown) are attached. The revol'uble member 5 is suitp ably connected with a source of power (not shown) by gears 5 and .5. In this case the central half elliptical spring is composed of two 'members 15 located on opposite sides of the supplemental axle member 12. The extremities of the spring members 15 are connected with the axle member 12 as shown at 15 while their central portions engage lugs 15 formed on the enlarged cen- There In this case the main axle member tralpart 5 of the axle part 5: The

springs 19 and 23,-inthis form of construction are connected in substantially the same 7 .way as heretofore describedwhen speaking of the other forms of construction. The ex tremities of the hollow axle art 5 are connested by a tie rod 5 provi ed with a turn buckle for purposes of adjustment.

From the foregoing descri' tion the use and operation. of my improve device will be readily understood-"and need not be described further in detail. 'The operation of the moving parts of the vehicle, that is to say the running gear, is substantially the same as any other constructions, the only, difference being that the body of the vehicle and the load are supported directly upon the supplemental axle members this relieving the vibration which otherwise would're'sult from the use ofthe vehicle, and making it practicable to use solid .or cushion tires. as distinguished from the machines of this class.

- In the form of constructionshown in Figs. '5, 8 and 9, the hollow axle part 5f. is pro-.

videdwith a part 5 shaped to fit the wearing latesof the depending guides, this part 5' pneumatic tires in eing preferably rectangular in shape and in any event being provided with parallel vertical surfaces adj acent'the wearing plates 28. In my improved'construction it is believed to be essential that the end-springs 19 be of lessstrength or somewhat weaker than the end springs 23 upon which. the body of the vehic e rests. Inother words in the use 'of a vehicle it hardly ever happens that bothground wheels on either ax e enter an unusual de ression on the road at the same instant. 8 opposite ends of the axle are not sub'ectedsimultaneously to the same strain. ence by' virtue of my construction whereby each spring 19 is somewhat weaker than the adjacentspring 23, the yielding ca acity of the spring 19 when the ground w eel onthatside enters an unusual de ression, will be first exhausted, after whic will receive the strain and yield accordingly.

This construction and arrangement makes it--- necessary to employ the central spring construction 15, 15 or 15 as the case may be. In other words it is believed important that the two end springs 19 and the central spring 15 or the two spring members 15or 15 as the case may be, combined shall be equal in n this account the springs at the the spring 23- strength to the two springs 23. Hence'byemploying the central spring construction, it becomes practicable to make the end springs 19 of less stren th thanthe end springs' 23. The springs 23 s ould be sufiicient to support the load when the vehicle is at rest, and this is true also of the three springs 19, 19 and 15. In case of a sudden jolt on either side of the vehicle, the spring 19 on that side will yield to relieve the concussion or jar. When the vehicle is at rest, however, or when running mately no vibration of the springs. The

springs, however, are brought into requisition to obviate or overcome jar or concussion incident to. the. unevenness of the road. Therefore under normal conditions in order that the supplemental axle member 12 shall occupy a position above the main axle memher 5', it is necessary that the springs 19, 19 and -shall be sufficient to support the load, thus preventing the supplemental axle 12 from settling down upon the main axle member, in which event'there would of coursebeno advantage in the supplemental axle construction since the two members would b I virtually a single integral member.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim 1s:

1. In a vehicle, the combination with the body of the vehicle, of a main axle member and an auxiliary axle member, the body of the vehicle being supported upon the latter,

and the two axle members being yieldingly connected whereby the. auxiliary member has a limited degree of independent vertical movement, and the auxiliary axle construction also being rovided with buffers located both above and below the main axle member.

2. A vehicle axle composed of a-main axle member, and an auxiliary or supplemental axle member yieldingly connecte with the main axle member to permit a limited degree of vertical movement, the auxiliary axle member being rovided with depending guides through w 'ch' the main'axle member passes and bufiers located both above and below the main axle member for the purpose set forth 3. A vehicle axle composed of a main member and a supplemental member, springs connected with the two members on op osite sides of the center of the vehicle, 0t er springs on opposite sides, of the center of the axle resting upon the supplemental member and inter osed between the'latter and the body of th being of greater strength than the first named s rings, and a central spring connected w1th the two axle members and cooperating with the first .namedsprings, to make the entire spring construction con necting the-two axle members, equal or approximately-e ual to the springs bearin upon the supp emental axle member an interposed between the said memberand the body of the vehicle.

4. A vehicle axle composed of-two members, three s rings connecting the two axle members an holding them in se arated relation, one spring being centrally ocated and the other springs being located on opposite sides of the center, and two other s rings engaging the supplemental axle member on ope vehicle, the last named springs posite sides of the center and interposed between the supplemental member and the in presence of two'witnesses.

HAZEL B; BUSH. Witnesses i DENA NELsoN, A.-J. OBRIEN. 

